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PLATINUM AND ALLIED METALS.
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999
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It
will be seen from these figures that in spite of the phenomenal
increase in price the production has increased but very little; in
fact, according to the official figures, the production was larger in
1901, 1902. and 1903 than it is at present. The platinum production of
Russia is said to be controlled by a French corporation called Societe
Anonyme d'Industrie du Platine. This company controls a number of the
larger producers, but there are also a considerable number of
independent miners. Almost all of the platinum produced in Russia is
refined abroad, in London, by Johnson, Matthey & Co.; in Germany,
by Heraeus & Co. (Hanau), and in the Norddeutsche Affinerie at
Hamburg; in Paris, by Quennesseu, de Belmont, Legendre & Co.
It
is possible that new discoveries of platinum-bearing sands will be made
in the region separating the districts now worked from the Arctic
Ocean, but so far no such discoveries have been reported. It can
scarcely be doubted that the platinum-bearing gravels thus far known
are approaching exhaustion. Nothing definite seems to have resulted
from the proposal of two years ago that the export of crude platinum be
prohibited and that the metal be refined in domestic laboratories.
The geological structure of the platinum-bearing region has recently been described by Louis Duparc.1
Platinum occurs at various places in Siberia, beyond the Urals, but no production is repor ed from these places.2
Colombia.—The
production of platinum in Colombia is slowly increasing and quite
recently the Lozana and other platinum mines have been purchased by the
Anglo-Colombian Development Co.3 Platinum was recognized by
the Spaniards in 1735 in the auriferous sands of the rivers of Choco
and Barbacoas. As well known, the metal was first discovered in
material from Colombia. In 1788 the miners were paid the sum of 2 pesos
per pound of the metal, which was then being largely used in jewelry
and in the manufacture of crucibles. At the end of 1788 there had been
collected from Choco 3,820 Spanish pounds. In 1824 the annual
production from the Choco is said to have amounted to about 1,000
pounds. In 1819 platinum was discovered in the Ural Mountains, and the
Colombian production became reduced, while that of Russia increased
rapidly.
The
principal placers in the running streams are situated on the western
slope of the western Cordillera near the divide separating the Atrato
from San Juan River. The material is formed of sand, pebbles, and
bowlders bound together by clay, and this rests on indurated clays with
sand. The present drainage has cut into this material and concentrated
the gold and platinum in the river gravels. In many places in Colombia
the gold is associated with a little platinum. The platinum has a wide
range in Colombia, extending between the second and the sixth degrees
of north latitude. A specimen of platinum from Barbacoas contains as
follows: Platinum, 89.02 per cent; iron, 5.00 per cent; rhodium, 3.46
per cent; palladium, 1.06 per cent; iridum, 1.46 per cent; copper,
traces.
Chromite is present m the sand with the platinum, which points to a peridotite as its original home.
1 Le Platine et les gites platiniferes de l'Oural: Arch. sci. phya. et nat., vol. 31, March, April, May, and June, 1911. s Hautpick, E. de, Min. Jour., London, Feb. 4,1911. 3 Min. Jour., London, Apr. 20, 1912.
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